The present technology relates generally to the administration of carbon dioxide into plants such as trees.
Demand for staple commodities such as fresh water and energy has grown with the increasing human population and as the supply of inexpensive water and energy has declined. It has been postulated that the increased demand has impacted the environment, for example, by increasing the concentration of atmospheric CO2 upon the consumption of fossil fuels.
Regarding fresh water supplies, there is a significant interest in conserving the amount of water that is consumed by plants. For example, a large fully grown tree may evaporate, or “transpire,” several hundred gallons of water through its leaves on a hot, dry day. At least ninety percent of the water that enters a plant's roots is used in this process of transpiration. Thus, methods for decreasing the rate of transpiration of plants, such as trees, would serve to conserve fresh water supplies, especially usefully in arid regions where such supplies are scarce.
Regarding energy supplies, there exists a growing need to identify renewable sources of affordable energy from plants. Most of the existing renewable sources of energy are crop-based that require harvesting or killing the entire plant to convert some of the plant's vegetation product into fuel. Methods for obtaining energy from plants, without harvesting and thus destroying the entire plant, would provide a superior source of renewable energy.
As noted, a consequence of the human population growth is postulated to include an increase in the concentration of atmospheric CO2 from the consumption of increased quantities of carbon-based energy. Effective methods for CO2 sequestration would be useful to stabilize or decelerate such increasing levels of atmospheric CO2.